Documentation

On January 1, 2009, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 went into effect. Taken as a whole, the changes to the statute clarify (a) who has a disability entitled to protection under the ADA and Section 504, (b) who is entitled to accommodations, and (c) how those determinations are made and by whom. These regulations acknowledge that postsecondary institutions may request a reasonable level of documentation in evaluating accommodation requests.

Documentation can serve two primary purposes. First, it establishes that the individual has a disability, and therefore is protected from discrimination. Second, documentation can describe the current functional impact of the disability so that potential accommodations can be identified. Documentation of disability is considered confidential and will not be released without a student’s express written consent.

Beyond the more objective determination of a disability and its impact provided by external documentation, the College recognizes that input from the individual with a disability is also a rich and important source of information on the impact of disability and on the effectiveness of accommodations. Accommodation decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, considering the impact of a particular student's disability within the specific context of a college-level academic environment.